G.O.P. Discovers Useful Voter Outreach Tool: Gun Sweepstakes

Hand over your email address to a political campaign, and typically all you can expect in return is an endless stream of solicitations for money.

But one supporter of Greg Brophy, a state senator who ran for governor in Colorado, got something else: a Smith & Wesson M&P15 rifle.

It was the top prize in “Greg Brophy’s Gun Club Giveaway,” an online contest last month in which people handed over personal information that is the currency of modern political campaigns — first and last names, email addresses and phone numbers — and in exchange, one lucky winner would get the gun.

“I tricked this baby out,” said Mr. Brophy, a Republican, boasting about how he had added all manner of accessories — extra grips, a backup sight and a strap so it could be slung effortlessly over the shoulder.

Online gun sweepstakes have become one of the most useful tools for campaign outreach in the 2014 Republican primaries. Across the country, from a race for sheriff in California to the United States Senate primary in South Carolina, candidates are using high-powered pistols and rifles as a lure to build up their donor lists and expand their base of support.

The method may be new, but the concept is actually a durable campaign device. Take a group of possible supporters who are highly motivated around an issue, in this case gun ownership and Second Amendment rights, and pique their interest with good marketing. Then, once you have their attention, solicit their personal information and follow up to ask for support and money.

For Mr. Brophy, the entries came pouring in. “Thousands of people,” he said. “It was awesome.” For the drawing, he used a website that generated a random number. It stopped on No. 775, and the winner was a deputy in a county sheriff’s office. And once he passed a background check, the gun was his.

The National Rifle Association, which has been doing Publishers Clearinghouse-style gun sweepstakes since the 1980s, figured out the allure of free guns years ago. Back then, it used direct mail. Now, it employs a range of online campaigns, including Facebook-based contests that provide the organization not just with people’s names, but also with their information-rich public profiles and lists of their friends. Millions of people have entered these contests, the group said.

In a Republican primary, there are few constituencies more politically motivated — and therefore more important to reach — than passionate gun owners. And with today’s campaigns making critical contact with voters online, free guns seemed to be one of the easiest ways to cut through the noise.

“This is just a more aggressive version of things campaigns are already doing,” said Zac Moffatt, who oversaw Mitt Romney’s digital strategy in 2012 and founded the firm Targeted Victory, which develops online campaigns. “You’ve got to break through,” he added, noting that guns would undoubtedly draw in potential voters who could be invaluable to a Republican candidate. “It could get you a couple extra thousand votes you didn’t otherwise know about.”

Lee Bright, a state senator from South Carolina who is challenging Senator Lindsey Graham in the Republican primary, has given away two guns, one online and one by direct mail. In the online drawing, the prize was an AR-15 rifle.

“We thought it was right in our wheelhouse,” Mr. Bright said. “We’re as strong Second Amendmentists as they come. And we wanted to reach out to like-minded folks.”

As a lot of candidates have learned, giving a gun away is not easy. First, the campaign has to make sure the winner is legally allowed to own a firearm. All those interviewed for this article said that background checks were being conducted through proper channels like licensed firearms dealers so a weapon did not fall into the wrong hands.

“You definitely don’t want to do that,” Mr. Bright said. “Not in the middle of the campaign.”

There is the issue of acquiring the gun, and if bought, making sure it is done through the proper channels. In Mr. Brophy’s case, the Smith & Wesson was donated by a supporter who is a firearms dealer. Under the law, Mr. Brophy has to report it on his campaign finance disclosure as an in-kind contribution. Other campaigns just buy the weapons. For its drawings, the N.R.A. said it relied on a combination of donated and purchased guns.

Then there is the issue of who is legally permitted to transfer the firearm to the winner. Campaigns are not licensed firearms dealers, so to make sure they are not making gun transactions illegally, many have opted to go through a gun store.

The task seemed so legally perilous that Joe Carr, who is challenging Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee in the Republican primary, hired a lawyer for his weapon sweepstakes.

“You don’t actually receive the firearm from us,” Mr. Carr said, explaining the cumbersome process of giving a gun away. “You receive a certificate for redemption of that model from a licensed firearm dealer, who’s then responsible.” Still, he said, it was worth it. Forty-five thousand people signed up for his contest.

Sometimes gun sweepstakes have drawn outrage, like when the Pima County Republican Party in Arizona announced a raffle for a Glock in 2011. The problem, as many saw it, was that a member of the congressional delegation, Gabrielle Giffords, had been shot in the head with a Glock early that year in a rampage in Tucson that left six dead. And they do not always work; Mr. Brophy failed to make the ballot.

Gun control advocates have noted what they say is a rich irony. Second Amendment-rights groups have fiercely resisted any laws that document the names of gun owners, which they fear could turn into some sort of gun registry.

The risk of a backlash to gun sweepstakes, however, has proved to be a limited deterrent to campaigns. Representative Paul Broun of Georgia, who is running in a crowded Republican primary for an open Senate seat, offered participants in his gun giveaway their choice of a Colt Marine pistol or a Colt Magpul 6920, complete with a tactical flashlight. President Obama and Michelle Nunn, a Democrat running for the Senate in Georgia, “would like nothing more than to destroy the Second Amendment,” Mr. Broun said.

In Colorado, Mr. Brophy was not the only Republican in the governor’s race who held a gun raffle. Tom Tancredo, the former congressman and presidential candidate, also had one.

His pitchman, the rocker and N.R.A. board member Ted Nugent, had a dark message. “We all better wake up and fight back together before it’s too late,” Mr. Nugent wrote in an email to supporters. “Enter to win a semiautomatic AR-15 — when you’re done, consider making a donation of $25 or more to help Tom keep our freedoms protected.”

Correction:

An earlier version of this article misstated the candidacy of Greg Brophy for governor of Colorado. He ran a campaign forgovernor but failed to make the ballot at the Republican state assembly last week.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: G.O.P. Discovers Useful Voter Outreach Tool: Gun Sweepstakes. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe